You Will Never Get It All Done

You will never get it all done

Was that a bit harsh?  I am sorry.  But the truth is that you will never get it all done.  Your current list is too long.  And even if it wasn’t too long, you still wouldn’t get it all done. And that is ok.

Throughout the day, every day, your brain is working and making connections.  You are constantly thinking of ideas and great next steps to act on to move your business and your life forward.  I bet, in any given day you probably think of at least ten more items to add to your to do list. Some things are small: pick up stamps, put my winter coat away, reschedule the dentist.  Other items are bigger: redesign the website, begin researching vacation rentals, launch new product.   Aside from those items, other peoples’ items start popping onto the list, fires erupt and need to be handled, occasionally a deadline appears that you had forgotten about and is suddenly a top priority.

It’s ok.

It is ok that you will never get it all done.  Because it was never about getting it all done.  Ever.

I used to be a goal setter.  Until a few months ago, I still taught often on setting S.M.A.R.T. goals.  I taught about making to-do lists and master to-do lists and using the methodology outlined in David Allen’s book, Getting Things Done.  The problem was that when you focus so fiercely on the goal and the to-do list you lose track of the progress you made in trying. You think you are successful when you check something off. (This is coming from a lover of lists and checking things off).

But there will always be at least ONE MORE THING you can add to the list!  It may feel like you will never succeed because you never get it ALL done.  Is this you?

I’d like to offer an alternative. In this method you create a vision for where you are going and then you notice all the ways that what you want already exists for you in your life.  (It’s a cool experiment, try it!).  Next, you look at one way you can bring your vision into your life and you take one step to make it happen.

VIola!  You get to celebrate!  When you do, you tell yourself and your Creator, you are successful!  Being successful causes happy, excited feelings to flow through your body.  You think, “Wow!  That was awesome!  I am amazing!  Look at me creating what I envision for my life!”  Then, you do it again and you are actually making meaningful progress on creating the life you always wanted.  

You didn’t get it all done but you you were a complete success anyway.  How awesome is that?

Feel free to share with me, your vision and how you are creating that for yourself right now.  And, if you would like to learn how to transition from your to-do list, schedule a time to chat.  I’d love to walk you through it.

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